LEADERSHIP

Leadership Traits



Leadership Traits

Introduction

What is Leadership? Many definitions have been proposed, cultural stereotypes abound, many programs focus on leadership development, but the question remains. In fact, the management of many different things to different people in different circumstances. When we think about leadership, we often think first of famous faces. We can think of the great political leaders: Washington, Churchill, Roosevelt. We can think of the leaders of social movements: Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez. We can think of the spiritual leaders: Jesus, Mohammed, Mother Teresa. We also include in our definition of some of the notorious leaders such as Hitler, Stalin, or David Koresh? It is obvious that leadership is not always or automatically good in itself. We are quickly reminded that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The study guide also quickly takes us for lists of known when we consider the examples of leadership in our own lives: family members, friends, teachers, ministers, and others that his life and examples of impact and led us in different ways. When we look at leadership in the communities we see many leaders who may never be known, but whose leadership is important for society. We begin to glimpse managers all round us.

Leadership Defined

Leadership is the ability to influence individuals or groups to achieve goals. Leadership as a process that shapes the objectives of the group or organization motivates behavior toward those goals, and helps define group or organizational culture. This is primarily a process of influence.

Leadership is dynamic or changing process in the sense that, while the effect is always present, persons exercising that influence may change. Possession of influence depends on the situation and the relevance of human skills and abilities to the situation. For example, if a particular person has the experience required to solve the problem, then, that a person can take to have a certain degree of influence on others (Wren, 2005, p. 243).

Although some leaders are able to influence followers to work toward the goals of the organization, provision of formal authority the manager does not necessarily make that individual a leader. Yes, the man has power, but whether or not they are able to influence their subordinates may depend on more that just this body.

The leader must, by definition, have followers. To understand leadership, we must examine the relations of leaders with their followers.

One of the points of view, management sees it as a transactional process in which leaders respond to subordinates the basic low level, and security. Such an exchange theory discussed previously, managers and subordinates can be viewed as negotiating agents, the relative power regulates metabolic processes as benefits are issued and received. Thus, the follower can follow a leader until the leader is perceived to be able to "deliver" some important needs. In some cases, the followers of a political leader can be very fickle, if the desired needs of the followers have not met the program adopted by the Government, the leader, the follower can easily cast their votes ...